Ross's Turaco
Tauraco rossae
Spectacular purple turaco with a yellow bill and face and a puffy red crest. Shows large crimson wing patches in flight. Found along forest edge, and in gallery forest and lush gardens. Acts like a typical turaco, bouncing through the trees, and flying occasionally with short bursts of wingbeats and long glides. Call is a low, up-and-down trill that is often given in raucous chorus by a group. Similar to Violet Turaco, but minimal overlap in range, and Ross’s is easily separated by its red crest and yellow bill.
Identification
Ross's turaco or Lady Ross's turaco (Tauraco rossae) is a mainly bluish-purple African bird of the turaco family, Musophagidae.
Taxonomy
Genus: Tauraco; Family: Musophagidae; Order: Musophagiformes.
- Scientific name
- Tauraco rossae
- Authority
- (Gould, 1852)
- Order
- Musophagiformes
- Family
- Musophagidae
- Genus
- Tauraco
Range and habitat
This bird is mostly found in woodlands, open forest and riparian habitats in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. They generally avoid heavily forested areas and their numbers remain strong despite the threat of habitat destruction due to agriculture expansion. These birds are non-migrating and rarely travel far from their birthplace, but will travel if food is not abundant in their immediate area.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Pied Cuckoo-Dove
Reinwardtoena browni
A large silver and black cuckoo-dove that shows obvious contrast between the light silver chest, belly, neck, and head and the much darker gray wings and tail. More confined to primary foothill forest than other cuckoo-doves in its range, which are smaller and less robust, lacking the distinctive silver-gray color scheme of Pied. Often betrays its presence with loud and clear calls, often a clear rising “woooow” followed by a more hoarse “whhhow.”
Black-striped Woodcreeper
Xiphorhynchus lachrymosus
Fairly large and distinctive woodcreeper. Much more boldly marked than any other woodcreeper in range: obvious thick white streaking above and below. Found singly or in pairs, usually in forest, where you might see it hitching up the lower part of a tree trunk. Often follows mixed-species flocks. Listen for voice, a clear descending series of notes, usually stuttered at the beginning.
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